The Path of a Warrior

In ancient times, a warrior tried to live his life in harmony with the universe and to understand what path he must travel. Along the road he would have encountered many hardships and trials, but he would never succumb to these vicissitudes. Instead, he used them to develop his own budo path even further.

In everyday life, our actions will also show the warrior paths and the actions we take denote the truth in our lives. In order to teach we must understand; in order to understand we must feel; and in order to feel we must trial and live. These are my thoughts on warrior values. Through my life as a ninja warrior I have followed many paths and witnessed many lives being destroyed. Reflecting on these experiences has strengthened my understanding of my own budo path. I believe in the preservation of life, and yet in order to preserve the lives that I protected, I have had to face the demons that would destroy them. I have looked into the mouth of the dragon on three occasions, and each time my strength and belief in budo has brought me back from that barren wasteland and mouth of eternal destruction.

A true warrior understands the control he must exercise to show the qualities of mercy appropriate for a ninja or samurai. In combat, you have the chance to look into the eyes of your enemy and almost touch their souls. You have the ability to neutralise, but by showing mercy you start on a new path of enlightenment, and so the path of budo becomes more meaningful. To learn to forgive even the demon reveals a true warrior.

There may come a point when you must neutralise the threat, and how you choose to do this reflects your own spirituality. In the service and protection of others, one can argue that this is a necessary evil. Your martial path has now touched the elements of truth and distinguishes between those holy places heaven and hell – without them there would be no balance, no yin and yang, no understanding and no opportunity to better oneself through absorbing moral values. Although your parents will have taught you moral values, you have the freedom of free will to endure hardships to cleanse your spirit and to choose your own budo path.

This is one element of life that you must choose for yourself.

Sparring and Doug Wilson

I have only recently come accross the episode on the history channel that shows two MMA fighters visiting, training and at the last minute sparring with a couple of our own shihan. I have also read with interest the many posts regarding the episode - some positive and some a direct disrespect for Doug and the other shihan.
Perhaps one thing that is forgotten is that the match towards the end of the show was done at the request of the directors and had to be entertaining and fun and at the same time not make a mockery of our two intrepid explorers. Sparrring and having fun or fighting to score points is entirely different to realistic encounters. Each individual will walk away maybe with a few cuts and bruises and all the speculation of what a 15th Dan in the Bujinkan should or should not have done is entirely speculatory. In the heat of a real conflict, you would not be trying to just score a point but would be trying to take out the other opponent any which way you can. This can obviously mean winning by maiming, inflicting serious injury or at an extreme - killing. How can you measure the effectiveness of a technique or indeed a person's ability when not faced with reality. Yes, i agree that doug was holding back as were the other shihan. Trying to find reason for why he decided to attack a fighter of the calibre of Jason is stupid as Doug could have seen an opening. What if that opening was enough to blind the opponent - would this be measured as success or not - you decide?
No matter what we think, it is entirely conjecture to analyze the show - we don't know what went on and i applaud our shihan for puting up with it and puting their reputation on the line. In reality, i do not believe that the two presenters would have survived a real encounter.

A long time ago, i happened to meet a cage fighter who came to train at the dojo and at the end of the training he appraoched and addmited that outside of the ring - he would not survive due to the sport element of his training. Secondly he stated that technique in the bujinkan threw him off and was too painful at times - which would never be allowed in the ring. Realistically a fight in the street should never last for more than a few moments and this is from years of experience. This of course is my own oppinion and once again i rize and bow with respect to Doug and the rest of the guys.

Finances

I noticed on another blog that a disagreement arose regarding the act of charging and monetary gain within Budo. There was a great deal of conjecture regarding this and this is my own thoughts on the matter.

I think the question of monetary gain or fee’s can be likened to energy and if i may, i would like to show a comparison with another Japanese traditon. I am sure that everyone has heard of the healing modality “Reiki.” Dr Usui, after receiving the transmissions went into the leper colonies at the time and began to teach and heal for no monetary gain. He taught people the secrets of the energy and helped them to change their lives. The lepers and the poor turned their lives around but only for a short time and on Usui’s return - he noted that they all had returned to their negative ways of living. They had taken everything for granted because it was given freely. The poor had become poor again and those that were healed or had the power to heal had squanderd the gift and reverted back to thier former self.
Dr usui decided that from then on, there would have to be an energy exchange, a way to value the gift or what you are being taught that may be utilized for the benefit of mankind. By offering an energy exchange such as money, help or anything else - you are in fact placing a value on what you are being given and not necessarily taking it for granted. My personal oppinion is that soke is perhaps acting in the same manner and we value the gift of the Bujinkan by offering our energy in way’s such as fees or help that is offered by those living and training under sokes tutaledge. Personally, i believe the bujinkan is a gift just as is our intuitive or spiritual aspects of our being.

Don't tell me your an assassin

I am starting this blog with a rather amuzing story. Yesterday i had the second class in Nairn and although the class was very small, comprising of only a few students from inverness and 2 new students from nairn. I had to laugh when standing before me was a rather tall young man dressed in head to toe in - you guessed it - a bloody ninja uniform and holding a mask and gauntlets in one hand. I asked him who he was and why he did not contact me before hand to register his interest. As with all students, i normally interview them to ascertain their attitude. Anyway, i asked him the same question that i ask all students "why are you interested in the Bujinkan." His reply flabergasted me when he said "I want to learn the art of the assassin" the first 3 letters came to mind and i sent him to the Teakwondo class up the street.
This should be a lesson to all. When choosing an art to study, be grounded and read up on it before hand. Don't walk in thinking you are an expert which leads to my second story.

Only a few days ago, a gentleman called to ask if he could train. Inquisitive, i began to ask him questions and when he told me that he was a master without the physical training - you can imagine my thoughts and response.

Disappearing is harder than you think

Now the title of this post will no doubt create much controversy, but what i am talking about is the ability to remain undetected whilst in the heat of battle or training. To disappear infact does not necessarilly mean exploding in a puff of smoke but more understanding timing and distance to make onself invisible using ninpo Taijutsu. Perhaps a better way to explain this is to be able to understand universal energy and to react to the subconcious rather than the conscious thought which gives rise to the physical manifestation of movement. Moving in this space allows you to move undetected - to evade or to get to a more strategic position.
Only after years of training in this way can the student arrive at the understanding of this concept. It's not as easy as you think, though training on the development of the intuitve senses will help to achieve this understanding. This allows you to employ hidden methods using weapons or your body.
It is interesting to watch the students perpective on this and at first many will stumble from one angle to another using only physical movement - putting themselves in further danger from the opponent, instead of flowing seemlessly using natural intuitive movement.